


Izuku's Ghost

by Wolfkun



Series: Izuku and the Data Ghost [1]
Category: Galerians, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-11 04:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15964478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfkun/pseuds/Wolfkun
Summary: Izuku's life changed for the better when he met a data ghost belonging to a boy that lived over two hundred years ago.





	1. Where Izuku learns his quirk ghost can speak… and finds out Rion isn’t a ghost or a quirk.

**Author's Note:**

> An introduction of sorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: minor grammar fixes, changed spacing for readability (9/14/18)

**Chapter One**

 

Izuku was ten years old when he first met the ghost.  A transparent figure of a teenage boy who wore rust red shorts, a white tee shirt with short black sleeves, bare feet, and had straight blond hair that fell into bangs over his eyes.  The ghostly boy was always silent, kept his hands thrust in his pockets, and walked with a slow gait.  Unhampered by walls, closed doors, or any sense of proprietary.

 

The ghost followed Izuku to school and around the house.  Quirk researchers studied the ghostly figure, fascinated at the late appearance of a quirk, and concluded three things: one, the ghost could not interact with anything in the material world; two, the transparent boy was Izuku’s quirk; and three, the ghostly boy was a vessel type and could not be easily controlled.  This trio of facts was a disappointment to green haired Izuku who wanted to be a hero.  At least, Izuku thought, he had a quirk.

 

It would have been better, perhaps, if any of those facts were correct.  Somewhere in the middle of the fourteenth year, Izuku caught the attention of All Might and gained the quirk, One for All, in front of the silent observer.  It was on the beach a few weeks later that Izuku saw the boy sigh and pull his hands out of his pockets; this was the first instance that Izuku had ever seen his hands.

 

_Izuku._   The voice was quiet and echoed faintly in his head.  Eyes wide with shock, Izuku realized his ghost spoke and yet he had not seen the mouth move.

 

“You spoke?”

 

An eye roll from the ghost.

 

_Follow me_.  With that, the boy started to move. 

 

“You know martial arts?” 

 

Izuku recognized the motions from old videos.  How could his quirk know martial arts when he didn’t?

 

_In combat, you have two choices in stopping attacks._ _Deflection_ , _moving the techniques away from you._ A beat as the ghost demonstrated with a hand to illustrate. _Or blocking, stopping the attack.  Both are equally valid, both have been used and can be superior to the other in certain situations.  Think of the difference between sloped armor on a tank turret or the thicker armor of a tank’s hull side._

 

_For now, you don’t have the strength to stop an attack.  So we’ll learn deflection._ The boy made a wry smirk.  _In my time,_ _I cheated to prevent attacks._ Not that he bothered to explain that intriguing statement. _  
_

 

Izuku moved with slow motions across from the ghost, mirroring his movements.  It felt odd, to weave his hands with the palms open and facing the slight-framed blond with his slow liquid-like movements.  The curly green haired teen had always wanted to learn a martial art, but between his mother’s fear and their tight finances, it was never an available option.

 

“What do I call you?” Izuku asked.

 

_Rion._   _No honorifics._   _I was a soldier.  A killer._

 

"You’re really a ghost?”

 

  _Not exactly.  I am not your quirk.  I have been following you because your quirk is elegant.  Perhaps you will be the one to save me._

 

 “Save you?” Izuku parroted, confused.

 

_We’ll talk about it later._ Rion’s words were the rustle of dry leaves.  _Feel free to tell others about me.  I appreciate the truth.  Out of curiosity, do you know who All Might’s friends are?_

 

 “N-no.”  Izuku knew sidekicks, agencies, but friends was an oversight; he would rectify that mistake.

 

_Ask, please.  I wish to speak with one of his choices.  Preferably someone close by._

 

“I d-don’t have a quirk.” 

 

The stutter was back, as it often appeared when he was nervous.  Izuku wished that he could speak into another’s mind as Rion did.

 

_You do.  There has not been a person born in two hundred years that has not had a quirk.  I should know._   The voice took on a brittle tone with an echo of biting humor. _I was there_.

 

Not that Rion would let Izuku’s shock settle.

 

_You should get back to cleaning the beach.  Practice these for the next few days.  Build up your speed slowly.  The difference between a soldier and a pretender is that of a soldier’s need for patience._

 

Izuku started moving things on the beach; broken toasters and long metal poles long rusted, an old oven, microwaves battered and glass shards.

 

S _tart with a small block of time.  Take a break every hour and go through the deflections.  I’ll show some blocks soon.  That way you can either move an attack away or break an offense with your defense.  Always use your whole body, never just a single limb._

 

The voice that whispered in his head was soothing.

 

“What is my quirk?" Izuku desperately wanted to know.

 

_Elegant.  Powerful.  Fascinating.  You have what I would call ‘luck drive.’  It doesn’t give you what you want, but rather what you need.  You want to be a hero.  That means you will save people; in turn, you must know what it is like to be saved.  You wanted a quirk so you could be a heroic symbol; One for All is maneuvered to you.  It’s passive.  It responds to your general intentions, not to specific situations._

 

“That- I didn’t know quirks work that way.” 

 

A traitorous thought filtered through Izuku’s mind, was Rion lying?  Was he a figment of the imagination?

 

_Izuku, there is one truth in this world._

 

The short teen listened.  An underlying truth?  Wisdom from a boy that claimed to be over two hundred years old and had seen the birth of quirks?

 

_People are idiots._

 

Izuku nearly fell over, disappointed and also smiling at the wry smirk on the blond’s face.  It would be weeks before he realized that Rion rarely expressed anything other than small facial movements.  Instead, he would learn that Rion seemed to be about conservation.  Even Rion’s fighting style was about stillness and quiet and devastation.  It would be over a year when Izuku would witness the full effect in the USJ and realize just what Rion had taught; for now, Izuku was pleased to talk with someone.  Someone that believed in him. 

    

“I didn’t expect you to say that,” Izuku admitted.

 

T _rust me; you’ll learn that people are idiots.  Including you, wait until you fall in love._

 

Izuku stared at the transparent boy, eyes wide, as waves rippled beyond Rion.  The slim boy’s hands were back in his pockets.

 

“It’s time to leave,” Izuku said in surprise as his watch beeped. 

 

Izuku was surprised to find how quickly the day had gone.  Sometimes the afternoons dragged slowly after All Might left.  Other days, he pulled himself through exercises in the morning and cleaned in the afternoon, his limbs like lead.  Having a friend present helped speed up the time.

 

“Mom,” Izuku called out.

 

Inko came out of the kitchen to see her son and his ghost.  There was something unnerving about the apparition’s expressions.  She thought that she saw glimpses of malice in the eyes and touching the brittle smile.  Her son didn’t see the feelings, at least he didn't seem to recognize the look.  Inko did.  She worked as a paralegal and saw the dark emotions in clients that came in.  The glittering undercurrent of deep emotions made her wary.

 

_Inko._

 

The whisper in her head was of words which danced in the wind.  A dry breath that echoed with the faint ring of beaten steel.

 

“What?”

Inko felt a pang of panic and fear.  This ghostly figure had never spoken, had always looked the same age, never changing.  Before, he’d only silently observed.  She knew the slim figure had gone to her son's school; she did not know nor would she learn quite yet how he had looked at the teachers in such disappointment. 

 

_I started training your son in self-defense._   Rion spoke after Izuku went into the bathroom to shower.  _So he can be a hero._

 

“I don’t want him to be a hero.  I want him to be safe.” 

 

Inko felt like a bad mother at her admission.  She didn’t believe he could be a hero with a simple apparition quirk.

 

_That’s stupid._   Rion was blunt.  Inko would learn in the next few months that the boy did not care about proper etiquette, nor did he shy from criticism.  _You either support your son in his goals, or you fail at motherhood.  This is not your life.  It is his.  You can guide, you can teach, and you can support.  You do not get to stop or change or choose._   _You are not him._

 

Inko stared at Rion as Izuku came out, oblivious to the harsh criticism, hair still wet from the shower.

 

“His name is Rion,” Izuku said excitedly with a happy smile, “and he’s not my quirk.”

 

_I am Rion._   The boy confirmed.  _For the moment I am his teacher._

 

“For the moment?”

 

_I hope to be his friend_.  A wistful smile.  _Maybe I can be his sidekick later in his career._

 

It would be over a year before the two, mother and son, realized how absurd the honest statement was. 


	2. Where UA meets the ghost of Rion… and Aizawa avoids dying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rion shows that he is a manipulative interferer. Some teachers will hope he is not teaching Izuku how to manipulate people. Nezu would hope he is. 
> 
> And Byakugo makes a brief appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: changed chapter spacing and made minor grammar fixes (9/14/18)

**Chapter Two**

 

“That boy, Katsuki Byakugo, has such a powerful quirk.  He will be a great hero.”

 

It was a simple statement by Midnight.  A look at the scoreboard showed the fiery-tempered explosive boy acquired top place with seventy-seven villain points and zero rescue points.  It was impressive.  The Izuku Midoriya kid was equally remarkable with sixty rescue points and ten villain points; especially that enormous strength that toppled the zero-pointer.  Both would make good heroes, she thought.

 

_Odd._   The voice was a dry wind that ghosted through the room.  Midnight saw the principal and All Might briefly stiffen before she noticed the figure of the teenage ghost that had arrived with Izuku enter through the closed doors.  _I had no idea that UA was such a villainous school._

 

There were a dozen heroes in the room, and most took umbrage at this outrageous observation.  Midnight leaned back, deliberately making herself relaxed.  She had seen Nezu’s appreciative glance.  The odd mammal, maybe a rat, was dressed as the principal in a dark business suit with a tie; he apparently knew this boy.

 

“Rion,” Nezu said with a dip of his head, confirming her line of thought.

 

Rion’s eyes flickered across the heroes before he stepped forward through the table.  The boy approached the monitor that showed rankings.

 

“Why do you say a villainous school?” Snipe drawled.

 

_You are rewarding villainy, yes?_ Rion asked.

 

“Not rewarding villains, young Rion,” All Might corrected, “Villain points reward the taking down of villains.”

 

_The capture of villains?  As the law requires?_   A lilt into the dry tone.  Rion full well knew the answer to this.  _It appears this test means to teach killing villains.  If saving people and killing them are weighted equally…_   A slight shrug.

 

“Regardless, this is the test that UA grants its students.” 

 

A tired voice from a dark haired man.  The appearance of the strange ghost just meant this meeting would go longer.  Aizawa had patrol again early morning; he was not paid enough for this.

 

_Ah, yes.  The idiot speaks._   Rion dismissed the man’s comment after a brief look.

 

“I am not aware of crossing you,” Aizawa said, “yet, you speak to me with animosity.”

 

_Of course.  You have expelled a student in every class year on the first day.  Zero potential you say.  I find it… questionable that you can see the potential of a student.  It seems more like laziness.  Why bother correcting aptitudes, when one can dismiss a student to only work with the best?_ Rion's eyes appeared to glitter for a moment.  Of all those in the room, only Nezu knew at that moment how close Aizawa was to destruction.  Nezu had studied human history, including some of the obscure parts, and he had an excellent idea of what this boy might be able to do.

 

“I only expel those without the willingness to work.”

 

Aizawa cursed silently to himself; his voice sounded a touch defensive.  Which he was not, the man swore that he was right about his actions.

 

_On the first day before teaching them?  Or do you do it to ratchet up pressure?_   Rion mused.  _Make an example that school is not supposed to be fun.  That sounds like my mother._

 

Snipe asked with a curious tilt of his head, ”Your mother?”

 

_I killed her._

 

A simple truth.  Several eyes widened as Rion considered Aizawa for a long moment, then turned to the cheerful rat in the center.

 

_Would you mind arranging by hero points for a moment?_  Rion paused while Nezu rearranged the scores. _These new rankings mean cooperation and teamwork are valued.  Perhaps we should see this much-lauded Katsuki._

 

Nezu smiled, like Rion, his eyes glittered with dark intentions.  Yes, he liked this boy.

 

As the teachers watched the video, All Might noticed that Rion’s fingers rose to count certain instances.  Those times coincided with kill-steals from the explosive teen in question.  The gaunt man that would buff up to All Might sighed.  A glance at Nezu’s face confirmed it; they were not going to put Katsuki into heroics.

 

“So?” Midnight asked, ”Yes, I understand he is… competitive.  That can be fixed.”

 

_Really?  Is this a shonen manga that needs an abusive rival for artificial tension?_  Rion’s voice dry as he glanced at her.  _Do you want someone that only cares about glory?  For that matter why should some people be fixed and others expelled.  This attitude appears to be a very whimsical way to run a heroics program.  Perhaps the rise of villainy is linked to your lackadaisical behaviors._  

 

Midnight flinched at a pointed glance from the boy.  She got a glimpse of his undertone, a ring of metal sword strikes that suggested something sharp and dangerous.  Rion was not to be taken lightly; she had understood that when he walked in.

 

Nezu asked with a broad smile, ”Is there anything else, Rion?”  And he did want to know.

 

Rion’s gaze swept across the room.  It rested on the hero Hound Dog.  Nezu hid a smirk.  Ah, that was a very different look for the boy.

 

_Cute._   Rion turned back to Nezu, missing the scrunched snout of horror at Rion’s assessment.  _No, thank you._   Rion's voice turned sharper in amusement as an icy sliver of humor threaded his tone.  _I appreciate the courtesy._

 

Rion walked out of the room, presumably to rejoin Izuku in the school’s courtyard.  Nezu noticed that Rion had stayed out of the exam area the entire time.

 

“You seem happy,” Snipe said pointedly to the principal.

 

“Oh, I am,” the principal’s head bobbed in response, “For one, none of you are dead.  I was afraid he might destroy Aizawa for a moment.”

 

Midnight objected to the last statement, ”I read the quirk doctors’ reports.  They stated the ghost could not interfere with the material plane.”

 

All Might looked pensive as he considered the bitter tea the principal so favored, “Rion could speak with us, interfere so to speak.  Plus, he is not young Izuku’s quirk.”

 

“No, he certainly is not Izuku’s quirk,” Nezu smiled.  “You have just met Rion Steiner, the Last Galerian.  And unless I am wrong-“ which, not a teacher there could remember an instance when the mammal got any facts wrong, “-his mother was Dorothy, the god-machine of Michelangelo City.”

 

All Might sighed, his agency’s staff had come to that conclusion as well.  It was the researchers’ considered opinion, and All Might paid a great deal for thorough research from the scholars on staff, that Rion’s powers might have grown over the years.

 

“If he can do more than project and receive, he is stronger than me,” All Might admitted.  Maybe, the researchers had qualified that evaluation with some interesting possibilities.

 

A small corner of his brain took some amusement at Aizawa’s blanch; while the tired hero and All Might did not see eye to eye, Aizawa would not want to fight someone as powerful as All Might.

 

Present Mic would be sorry he missed this.  The voice-based hero always seemed to find humor in bizarre happenings.  What could be more outrageous than the probable data ghost of a boy two hundred years dead commenting on the inherent wrongness of testing at the best high school in Japan?

 

Outside in the school, Rion eyed Izuku who was staggering slightly, the latter said, ”Pulled muscles in my legs.”

 

_Good.  I was afraid you did something stupid._

 

Izuku pouted a little.  After almost a year of knowing Rion, he had concluded that the blond knew much more of what was going on about- everything really.  That… moment of truth when Rion showed his present condition, more machine than anything alive had given him the drive to succeed like none before.  Rion had helped Izuku on the roof.  Physically interacting to hold the boy back; no lecture or berating the weak moment.  Instead, Rion took the whole attempted suicide in stride.

 

“Do you think I made it?” Izuku asked.

 

Rion shrugged a little.  _Do you feel good about your performance?_    

 

“I- I did my best.”

 

_Then don’t worry about it._

 

Izuku did not consider this a flippant answer; Rion did not seem to put much stock in recent heroics.  The ghostly boy had been gone for a few days when he first started becoming more active, returning from a talk with Sir Nighteye and someone Rion referred to as ‘the rat, I liked him.’ 

 

After his absence, he had noticed All Might was looking healthier.  All Might had answered Izuku’s inquiry with the glance at Rion and admitted he was eating better.  Rion had not seemed to pay any attention; though Izuku assumed that he’d manipulated events.  When he’s tentatively mentioned the better health to the data ghost, Rion rolled his eyes and ignored the query.  The blond boy saw no reason to answer what Izuku either knew or could quickly figure out.

 

Izuku could not think of a time when the other boy had lied; omitted the truth?  Sure, lots of times.  Mostly just refusing to answer; though, Rion had proved an able teacher of One for All.  Guiltily, Izuku admitted that he preferred to learn from the boy who looked his age.  Rion had shared the truth of One for All with him, as he’d learned from the first holder. 

 

A week later, Izuku did get in with a letter announcement that sent both mother and son to tears.  Rion strangely was not present.

 

The blond was out stalking, unseen, the rather interesting letter sent by UA that featured All Might's hologram to an explosive quirked bully.

 

“It is I, All Might.  Byakugo-san, you scored the top-ranked spot with seventy-seven villain points.  Welcome to the General Education program, of your hero academia.”

 

Said boy froze in shock.  Sure for a moment that he misheard, he was destined for heroics.

 

“I know you had indicated the Heroics program on your application, yet with zero rescues; you earned no heroic points, a qualifier for the hero classes.”  Then the smile darkened, and All Might looked as if he stared right out of the hologram at the still frozen teen, “And I know what you did in middle school to other students.  I would never allow such a boy into heroics without an honest redemption.”

 

Yes, Rion decided; he liked that rat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where UA Classroom 1A meets Rion… and Izuku hints to his abilities. Sort of.


	3. Where UA Classroom 1A meets Rion… and Izuku hints to his abilities. Sort of.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku attends UA, Rion hints to his knowledge, Nezu plots, and it's the quiet before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: changed chapter spacing and made minor grammar fixes, also Tenya Iida's name (9/14/18)

**Chapter Three**

 

Izuku was late, an inauspicious start to his first day of school.  The tie seemed too short, the uniform did not seem to fit well, and he was tempted to let green lightning crackle to get to school on time.  In fact, he wasn’t going to rule it out.  Rion was slightly amused by his fretting too, returning to his previous silence as a passive observer.  When Izuku had confessed that he was afraid of Katsuki’s reaction, Rion just shrugged but agreed that the abusive teen probably got into UA’s program.

 

Though Rion did not appear too worried.  Then again, he had not interfered, nor even been present for much of the bullying.  Though, Izuku considered, he had never been entirely complicit either.  And the self-defense moves, those worked very well on the bullies.  Katsuki, Rion showed such disapproval when Izuku used the affectionate Kacchan, had been shocked when he’d lunged to punch and nearly had his arm broken in return.  The follow-up strike, done by rote had surprised both boys.  Izuku’s open palm, learned from long hours at the beach, had slid so easily into Katsuki’s groin, earning a whole new pitch from the loud boy.  Neither boy had been happy about that meeting.  Izuku had thoroughly washed his hands several times that evening, and when he complained to Rion, the blond ghost had snorted in amusement at the green haired boy’s obvious distress.

 

The train ride to the station near the school went too fast for Izuku’s nerves and too slow because they were going to be late if even one hold up occurred.  Rion rode the train, eyeing people who made a wide berth around them even on the crowded train.  Apparently, these commuters were not used to spending time with a ghost walking through them.

 

Three blocks from the train station and then to the high school under a gloomy sky and then Izuku paused, fearful because Katsuki was waiting by the gate.

 

“Deku!  How did you-?”  The explosive teen froze in the midst of reaching out to grab Izuku. “Haa?”

 

“S-sorry, I’m late,” Izuku slid past his antagonist, “Rion does this sometimes.”

 

The ghost was already phasing through the entrance doors.

 

“R-rion!” Izuku exclaimed, frantically checking his room assignment, ”You have to let him go!”

 

A raised eyebrow.

 

“Well, y-you don’t have to.  But you should?” Izuku questioned, darting down a hallway.

 

Several staff members watched with trepidation as the teenager in the courtyard stumbled.  That was certainly not a strength augmentation quirk.

 

Izuku slid the door open, noting to himself absently that Rion was continuing to walk forward.  The ghost was moving to meet a tall white furred fierce hero named Hound Dog.  Several students were cowering under the combination of growls, barks, and harsh words.

 

“- second years, first day-“  Hound Dog let them leave for class with a growl as he regarded the youth in the hall. “Rrrion.”

 

_Hello._   Rion circled the muscular furred hero once.  _I should get to class with Izuku.  It… you are just so beautiful._

 

“Not.  Beautiful.”  Hound Dog growled out, angry.  How does one intimidate a dead boy?  And Aizawa had this one in his class.

 

Rion walked away without a word.  Hound Dog knew this would not be the end of the ghost’s fascination with him.  Yuck.

 

_Sorry.  I like dogs_.  Rion said as he crossed the wall and entered the classroom.  Several people were already present, and they all looked stunned at his appearance.

 

“Who are you?” A red-haired boy asked, surprised.

 

Izuku wanted to cry with relief, but also exasperation.  He’s heard more about Hound Dog than he had wished to, and he was a hero fanboy.  Besides, Rion’s sly comment just as he was settling into bed last night about the hero probably knowing ‘doggy-style’ made him want to bleach his brain.  Still, he had not wanted to be alone today.

 

_I am Rion Steiner._

 

“I didn’t see you in the test.”  A pink skinned girl with horns said.

 

_No.  I am just an observer._   Then he walked through the red-haired boy to look at the horned girl with a focused intensity.  The red-head seemed astonished to be so easily circumvented.

 

"Wh-what?”

 

Izuku groaned and sat down, putting his face in his hands.  This attitude was something he had seen in the past few months, Rion was acting more like the teenager he looked.  While part of him was glad that Rion had hope now, as the ghost explained his new found attitude.  Izuku kind of missed the cold, steady presence of the original.

 

_Please sit_.  Rion sent to everyone.  It had an authority of forged steel and liquid oxygen.  The class found themselves scrambling to their seats. _Let’s be logical.  Introduce yourself by first name, then your quirk._

 

“Are you the teacher?” A boy with two-toned red and white hair asked.

 

_Are you a student?_ Rion returned, amused.

 

“I am Shoto Tod-“

 

_First name._

 

“Shoto.”  The boy seemed disgruntled.

 

_…and?_

 

“I can make ice.”

 

Several of the students’ faces looked surprised at this.  Izuku wondered where the real teacher was.

 

_Interesting.  You also have fire from your records, correct?_

 

“I won’t use fire,” Shoto said flatly.

 

Izuku wondered how Rion had gained access to the records.  Did someone show him, they must have, right?  What was going on?

 

_I didn’t say you had to.  I asked what your quirk was.  Whether you choose to use it or not is up to you._ Rion pointed to the tall black haired boy.  _How about you?_

 

“My name is Tenya, the engines in my legs mean I can move fast.” An understatement.  The tall boy adjusted his glasses, ”It is interesting that Sh-shoto,” he stumbled over the too familiar first name, “has two quirks.”

 

_No.  Shoto has one quirk, he’s an energy emitter; but, he has two manifestations._   Rion said drily.  _I’ve yet to meet anyone with two quirks.  However, I have seen multiple manifestations of a single quirk._   _Of course, energy emitters are often stymied by feedback from the quirk.  For example, Shoto may suffer from hypothermia if using his ice too long.  Using his fire would regulate that weakness._

 

“Tokoyami, my quirk is Dark Shadow.” The boy with the head of a bird said in response to a pointed hand.

 

Rion regarded the avian shadow hovering over the boy for a long moment before crooking a grin.  _No.  Your quirk is vessel.  Dark Shadow is a separate being.  Vessels are rare and powerful quirks._  

 

Tokoyami said with wide eyes, “The quirk scientist was certain that Dark Shadow is my quirk.  My subconscious, to say.”

 

_So, your subconscious is sentient?  Have you not observed Dark Shadow acts independently?_   Rion considered the youth. 

 

Upstairs, Nezu and Aizawa watched through a camera as Rion essentially taught the first class.

 

“Did you know this was going to happen, sir?” Aizawa asked the grinning mammal; the **actual** dark-haired teacher considered the boy a brat.

 

“I suspected we would see something interesting.  I want to know about Rion; he might prove to be a valuable ally.”  Nezu considered, “And don’t you find it odd?  We can hear him.  Nor is he broadcasting everywhere or we would have heard about it by now; it shows an awareness of the environment to project to us.”

 

Aizawa sighed, while he had planned to do a quirk assessment first, he was changing his mind.  The students certainly were having a lesson down in the classroom.  It disturbed him slightly that no one thought to question the boy’s teaching.  After all, Rion did not answer the question about being a teacher as a positive, sidestepping the question; which did not bode well for the students’ logical processes.

 

“Should I go teach at some point?”  Aizawa asked. 

 

The teacher, still tired from his long patrol, saw Rion point to another; a purple haired boy who looked exhausted and answered by the name of Shinsou with a brainwashing quirk.  This was the replacement for the top placed student in the exams.

 

“Sure.” Nezu waved the disgruntled teacher out.

 

Nezu considered the data ghost in the front of the room.  All Might had said Rion might be stronger; Nezu severely disbelieved that was the case.  Though he had not disabused the staff because of… reasons. 

 

Still, it wasn’t Rion’s powers that fascinated the principal, but the mind and experiences he had.  There were glimpses of a broken child behind the façade; the interactions with Hound Dog was a tell.  Nezu suspected the furred hero misread the signals Rion used, deliberately sent by the data ghost, from what the principal could discern.  A better explanation, Nezu thought, might be that Rion knew how protective the hero was.  In his limited interactions, from the moment Rion had approached ten months ago to enlist help for All Might, the broken child was all but begging for help; shame the other heroes did not seem to hear the cry. 

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Where the villains attack the USJ… and Rion demonstrates his kill count


	4. Where the villains attack the USJ… and Rion demonstrates his kill count.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Villains attack the USJ and Rion responds with deadly force, at a price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter carries a violence warning. For those that played Galerians on PS1/PS3, you might remember he was a bit unhinged.

**Chapter Four**

 

The instant the villains gated into the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, Rion knew three things instantly: no one present was strong enough to handle such a large force, the villains had come prepared for the three heroes who were supposed to be there- and All Might was elsewhere with a hostage situation downtown, and everyone was frightened- the students because they weren’t ready and the two heroes because they wouldn’t be enough.  Sure, they would fight, but probably get badly hurt.  Rion also knew he was the exception to the above.

          

_Izuku, castle with your friends.  I’ll deal with this._

 

Izuku protested, ”You can’t, you-“   He stopped because it wasn’t his secret to tell among everyone; in the kind boy’s heart anger was kindled that in time would flare hot and white and long.  Unknown to anyone present at the moment, Izuku had started a new birth.  A metamorphosis which would be known in later years to frighten enemies and make heroes flock to him.  A righteous anger which no one wanted to have turned onto them.

 

Flames lit up the right flank of the ghost twenty meters away as men began to scream.  Rion put his hand to his temple, bringing his power to flare out for the first time in two hundred years.  Behind him, some students cried out in horror, pale and sick, as they watched the closest men to them drop knives and bats and guns as they fell writhing; orange-red flames burned away at their hair and clothes.  Science fiction notwithstanding, the human body does not burn fast.

 

Rion stepped forward, in life he’d not been quick.  The grey-haired young’ish man with hands attached to his face said something to a mist clouded man next to him; a teleporter, Rion thought of the latter.  With but a thought, Rion hung curtains of golden energy in the path; the teleporter bounced backward, surprised.

 

 _I’ve fought teleporters._   Rion’s voice was cold as an arctic breeze.  It whipped in cyclic swirls through everyone’s head with screaming men creating a ghastly background as they continued to burn slowly.  Heroes and villains alike cringed at the mental echo.  _And cannon fodder._

 

“You-you're some kind of mini-boss for the heroes?”  The hand-faced man asked, “What kind of hero kills?”

           

_438._

 

“What?”

 

 _That is the number of men I’ve killed.  Plus, my siblings and mother_. 

 

Rion’s mental voice was frigid in their heads. The students felt horror submerge them as they were dipped in fear like drowning victims clutching for a scrap of sanity.  Not even the heroes who had seen vicious attacks were immune to the grip of fear the boy exuded.

 

A few villains rushed past their burning allies to try and get to the boy, accurately identifying him as the cause.  Rion looked at them.  They went down with sick squelches.  The reason was only apparent to the observant heroes, Eraserhead and Thirteen.  They had caught a glimpse to see eyes burst; the men were dead before they hit the ground.

 

“Izuku,”  Eraserhead said crisply, taking control, trying not to think of the gruesome deaths, “Explain castle.”

 

“From chess," Izuku referenced the western game, "-we need to get a strong wall of defense.  We’re not ready for this.”

 

Which was true.  **No one** was ready for people to be set on fire to burn slowly and have their organs liquified.  Not that either hero had much pity for the villains who had come with weapons meant to stab and beat and puncture their students.

 

“The doors are sealed!” Tenya Iida grimaced, trying and failing to pry the heavy vault doors apart that had gone into an unauthorized lockdown.

 

“I’m on it,” Izuku’s body lit with green lightning.  Full Cowl, he called the crackling emerald arcs of plasma that wreathed his body.  Almost faster than the eye, he seized the doors and shoved them open.  The metal joints whined loud before giving way with a shriek of tortured steel.  The double doors were crumpled, wrecked from the brute strength.  Tenya was taken aback; he’d known Izuku was strong but-

 

“Go!” Izuku all but tossed the speedy boy out the door to get help before turning to a shocked boy, “Shoto!”

 

Shoto stared at the burning men, he’d thought he was over the trauma from his father, but the sight of the flames used in vengeance brought him to past images of burns with buried pangs of pain coming forward, making the normally resilient teenager frozen in trauma.

 

“Shoto- can you hear me?”

 

It was like Izuku was a long way from him rather than literally two feet, “Yes?”

 

More of a question than affirmative.  Out of patience, Izuku grabbed Shoto’s wrist dragging him to Eraserhead, he’d know what to do to put the fires out.  Izuku would apologize later, right now he was worried about Rion.

 

“This was designed to kill All Might,” the villain bragged to the slow advancing blond boy, showing the monstrous black form with the beak of a bird and an exposed brain.  The deaths of his allies in the attack did not bother the hand-faced man.  They were extras, anyway.

 

 _Really?_   Rion spared a glance to the remaining twenty-something mobsters hanging back.  Twice their number on the floor.  With a cold glare, Rion dropped the hanging curtains of power on the villains; lifting them in a whirlwind of raging telekinesis.  The victims had no chance of survival when dropped, off-kilter and from thirty feet.  It took him less than ten seconds to kill twenty men, less than three minutes to kill eighty.

 

Rion eyed the shocked core of people standing in front of him, unimpressed.  The grey-haired man, the leader Rion thought, was fisting his hair in frustration.  The giant bird-like creature with four arms and an exposed brain swung a fist that phased through the data thought projection that Rion had created.

 

 _Enough._   Rion’s voice tainted with strain for the first time as he bent his will to the creature.  For a long moment, everything was still before the horrific beast detonated with a thunderclap of grey matter, thick red fluids, and wet flesh.   _Leave here.  Or die._

 

The decision to leave was a quick one to reach.  Except the leader froze just before entering the portal, the feeling of burning knives raking his brain as his life was laid bare.  Echoes of the intrusion would linger for a long time afterward.  The villain had never been so powerless except for under-

 

 _All_ _for One._   The mental voice from Rion gained a new quality, malice that glittered like a sea of broken glass.  _I knew him as Dr. Lem.  I thought I killed him.  A body double?_

 

 _You tell your sensei, Tenko_ , making the still frozen man cringe at his real name, anger bubbling underneath.  This boy knew everything now.  **Everything.**   _I will hunt him down like a rabid dog and kill him.  This is not my full strength.  I will destroy him after sundering everything he stood for.  You tell him I am the last of the Galerians.  Ask him what happened to my equals.  To the god-machine.  To the military that came against me.  To Ash._

 

The now released Tenko fell through the portal in stumbling shock.  Rage would soon follow.

 

“Rion!” Izuku was in front of his friend in an eyeblink.  Rion was flickering, and he considered the green haired boy with a sad smile.  Izuku looked frantic, “How can I help?”

 

Rion gasped in pain as the projection blinked out for a few long moments.

 

 _I used too much power.  They noticed.  I-_   A flicker and the projection was gone.  Izuku waited for several minutes before his eyes glistened with tears.  Behind him, someone had shouted ‘I am here!’ But the one he wanted, needed, was entirely gone.  Vanished in the wreckage of fury he’d wrought.

 

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Where Rion is missing… and no one quite knows what to feel. Except Nezu.
> 
> I suppose this is a good place to point out that while writing the sequel, it occurred to me that I needed to introduce, Rion. That introduction is the reason for this fiction. The sequel heavily features characters from Classroom 1-A and 1-B, except Byakugo; 'cause I dislike him.


	5. Where Rion is missing… and no one quite knows what to feel.  Except Nezu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rion has vanished after the events of the USJ, so Izuku goes to the only one he trusts to help.

**Chapter Five**

 

It had been eight days now since the events at the USJ, and Rion was gone.  Izuku had not seen even a glimpse of the boy or heard a whisper of the dry voice.  Which is why he had come to the only person he trusted with the information Rion had given.

 

“Midoriya-san,” Nezu greeted him formally.

 

Izuku still looked downcast after the events.  The principal couldn’t help but feel responsible.  The students were his to protect.

 

“Sir,” Izuku nodded and sat at the seat in front of the desk as waved to do so, “Rion respected you, and someone needs to know what he said to me.”

 

Nezu felt a bit flattered, but also delighted at knowing more about the puzzle that was the data projection.

 

“Two hundred years ago, Rion had defeated Ash, an enemy of his, I didn't quite understand.  Initially, the plan was to trap Ash inside an electronic storage space, and both Galerians would be deleted.  However, Rion duplicated himself back to his original body.  From what he said, that was a mistake.”

 

Nezu knew from the records he had sought out that Ash was another Galerian, a powerful one with the intention to wipe out the human race with nuclear weapons.  Ash’s attacks had irradiated much of Europe.  From the classified records, Nezu’s contacts in the Japanese military had made available upon his request; the Galerian had emitted nuclear radiation naturally.  Though the principal was still uncertain as to the connection between the Galerians and quirks, every informed scholar agreed that the god-machine likely gave quirks out to humanity.  The child born in China to a high ranking member of the Michelangelo City’s military was evidence.  The why of the god-machine was a different question.  Considering the god-machine tried to exterminate everyone, it was doubtful for a good reason; Nezu speculated whether the stagnation of technology had anything to do with it.  

 

“Rion’s body had been collected by a military faction and taken somewhere.  Wherever Rion is, he can’t reach his body from the projection.  I saw his true form,” Izuku swallowed, “It was horrible.  I think that robots have been doing medical experiments on him for the last twenty years.  Rion only remembers darkness before that; he theorized he’d been in stasis.  Rion said there had been no active minds near him.”

 

Izuku looked down at his hands, “I know I’m not strong enough; I need a team to rescue him.” 

 

The boy looked up at the principal, a fire burning in his eyes.  Nezu quite liked that determination as Izuku continued, “I became a hero to save people, and he needs saving.”  A watery laugh, “He was a brat and a killer at times, but I still want to help him.”

 

Nezu’s smile twisted from encouraging to wry.  Getting up, he took a book from the small shelf next to him, “I’d like this back.  It is a rare copy of the history of Michelangelo City’s fall as told by collected observations from those present.  Rion features prominently in their remarks.  Not all were flattering either.  It may help you find him.”

 

Nezu had some ideas where he could be and who he might contact for help.  However, Izuku was right, he needed a team who trusted him, and he needed to grow more confident.  The principal watched Izuku leave, he thought of an upcoming exercise which might help.  Though he’d have to plot a bit, so he wasn’t directly in charge.  It would be best if someone else had the idea.

 

There were changes over the next few weeks.  In the aftermath of the USJ, Izuku had seen Byakugo move to the Heroics class 1-B so his powerful quirk could be utilized.  Several conversations with All Might had helped with Izuku’s loss.  Inko had helped, too.  He had confided to her about how Rion helped out; leaving out, a convenient memory loss, the whole attempted suicide thing.

 

His friends in the class had helped too, bringing a sense of normalcy to the boy.  In particular, Shinsou had helped by listening to the rambling.  Izuku had been happy for the violet-haired boy, a friendly hero candidate, not to mind being sought out.  Sometimes, everyone needed a shoulder to cry on.

 

In the same period of time, All Might met several times with the unfortunate detective that had drawn the case, Inspector Naomasa.  The latter of whom was perpetually weary from the events.  From the eye-bags, All Might noticed the inspector was beginning to resemble a teacher he knew.

 

“Eighty-two confirmed deaths,” the Inspector complained, “We couldn’t keep it from the media.”

 

It was a constant complaint, and this meeting brought no new information.  The inspector was venting; the military was stonewalling him, too.  If they knew anything, it wasn’t being said to him.  And he had spoken with a representative.  They knew something.

 

“I know,” All Might had seen the ripples of shock as Izuku’s ghost had his identity revealed to the population.  It was impossible to cover up now.  All Might remembered Izuku's shock at reading about a cult that had started about Rion.  The green haired boy had been thoroughly horrified at the idea.  He had mumbled something as he put his face in his hands to the effect of, 'Rion was right, people are idiots.'

 

The inspector continued, “I can’t blame Rion either, those criminals had come to the USJ to kill the students.”  The weapons that had littered the grounds were the proof.

 

“I know,”  And All Might did know, he felt guilty too, irrational though it might be.  He felt like he could have prevented those deaths had he been there.

 

“Has Izuku said-?” Naomasa left the partial sentence hang.

 

“From what Izuku thinks, young Rion is not dead; he is captured and damaged.  His captors are experimenting on him, probably to create another Galerian.  Rion told Izuku a few years ago that if he used too much power, he’d likely be caught.”

 

All Might left unsaid that Izuku had gone to Nezu.  Who knew what the principal had done?   It would not help his friends anyway.

 

Naomasa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “It’s a damned nightmare.”

 

“I know,” All Might, in his deflated gaunt form, agreed.  The coffee shop’s noise bustled around them as the two sat, “At least, it’s not just your nightmare.”

 

For the League of Villains, ‘nightmare’ was an understatement.  Recruitment had dropped sharply.  Not everyone wanted to risk the wrath of a dead boy.

 

After the report by his underling, All for One contemplated the unexpected return of his potential nemesis.  Contrary to popular history, the two had never directly met.  The mastermind had sent a robotic body double to appear at the clinic.  A good move, since no one had expected Rion to be so willing to kill.  Rion had thoroughly trashed the body.

 

Rion had ruined a lot of plans, back then.  All for One would never forgive him for his killing of Dorothy; it had been the god-machine that had given him his power; not a quirk either, All for One was made to rule quirks.  All for One hated the boy for those events, even more than All Might and that was something, he mused.

 

Not that All for One was particularly worried about the reappearance.  Rion was a loose cannon and a damaged one at that.  The media covered his mysterious disappearance extensively.  The criminal ruler suspected that Rion was constrained and potentially vulnerable.  All he needed to do was find out how and where.  Which is why he had people discreetly tailing Izuku’s movements to find out where the boy was going, the mastermind figured that Izuku would attempt to find the brat.

 

As for the man once known as Tenko, well the abrasive telepathic contact would fade in time.  If anything, it showed that his choice was the right one, a lesser man would have died.  Personally, All for One wanted to meet Rion; he would crush the arrogant brat beneath him.  Rion might be strong, but despite his little show at the USJ, he was weaker than himself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: The sequel, Operation: Heist- Chapter One: What box?
> 
> or
> 
> Izuku and friends are contracted to steal Rion.


End file.
